8 Handy Hacks That Will Change The Life Of Every Apple User

handy hacks on iphone

Apple devices are designed and coded so that everything you need to do just works. Except, of course, when it doesn't! There are times when you might think that Apple has deliberately hobbled some of the things their devices can do for the sake of usability. The good news is that there are many hacks, tips, and tricks that tech-savvy users have discovered or developed that allow you to use your drive to its full potential.


1. Make A Second Hand-iPhone Usable

Second Hand iPhone Usable

Anyone who has ever bought a second-hand iPhone or had one given to them by a relative knows all too well the pain that comes from attempting to set it up in their own identity. This Is because Apple requires you to enter the previous owner's password to set it up correctly. This is fine if you know their password, but it can cause all kinds of annoyance if you don't.

Luckily, you can follow these steps on how to remove the activation lock with a simple hack. This tip pertains to the iCloud activation lock and can be used on all iPhones. Essentially it involves bypassing the activation lock.

Without going into too much detail (there are excellent step-by-step guides online), you start the phone as usual and get it ready to set up. When it asks to connect to the wifi, you can enter a specific IP address. Following this, you'll need to deny it the ability to connect, where you will be taken back to the wifi login section where you become logged in. This hack might be temporary, and there are other options you can search for which may be more permanent.


2. Charge Your Battery Faster

iphone Battery Faster

This tip is quite well-known by now, but it is still a good one. It entails you turning on the airplane mode which turns off all of the radios. This dramatically reduces the power consumption and allows your phone to be charged faster.


3. Use Facetime With Non-iPhone Users

Use Facetime With Non-iPhone UsersThis is a brand new feature in their latest iOS update. Starting in iOS 15, you can now create a link to give to those you swoosh to begin a Facetime conversation with. This is extremely useful because Facetime is efficient when using your data, and like most Apple products, it works well.

You could only Facetime other Apple users in the past, but this latest feature is excellent because you can contact anyone using any device. You create the link, send it to the person or people you want to speak with, they click on it, and you're ready to go!


4. Reduce Distractions

Reduce Distractions

Although this isn't a hack per se, like the Facetime point before, it is a recent feature introduced in iOS15. The main benefit comes from setting up different profiles. For example, you can set work and personal profiles. When You turn on the work one, only apps relevant to your job will show, hide apps like social media, etc.

Furthermore, it will also notify people you designate as friends that you are working and cannot contact. Likewise, the personal profile gives you more time to spend with family and friends and allows you to forget about work.


5. Download TinkerTool

TinkerTool

This tip is MacBook-specific, but once you discover its features, you'll never look back. macOS is famed for its ease of use and clean layout. However, to find most of the cool features, you have to use the command line.

While this isn't a big hassle and is quite fun when using it every so often, if you need to access specific settings and use the command line each time, it can become tiresome. TinkerTool allows you to activate or deactivate all of the best dentures that MacOS hides.

For example, you could set it up to ask if you want to use external storage as a Time Machine backup. Another great feature is to bring up the dock instantly instead of waiting for the animation to occur. This can save you time if you are a power user. There are loads of great features that you can use, and it's all behind a GUI, making life far more straightforward.


6. Use The TextSnipper App

mac TextSnipper App

This is also a MacBook-specific hack but one that is genuinely useful. Using this app, you can extract all manner of text directly from images and other documents. It uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to turn almost any text into usable text. This can be useful if you transcribe a lot of written documentation.

You merely scan it, apply the TextSnipper app, and you have the text ready to use. It may need some editing here and there, but on the whole, it works very well.


7. Organize Your MacOS Navigation Bar

Organize Your MacOS Navigation Bar

Using an app called Bartender, you can organize your MacBook navigation bar to make it cleaner and easier to use. For some reason, Apple doesn't allow you to hide or collapse unused apps and instead leaves them all of your navigation bars.

It is sometimes helpful in certain circumstances, but it tends to make everything look cluttered. Although Bartender won't altogether remove these apps, it does enable you to hide them, only keeping your most-used apps readily available.


8. Ask Alfred For Help

Alfred for Mac

Alfred is a fantastic multiuse app that works similarly to spotlight, but it is better, faster, and has more uses. This is more of a productivity app than a hack, but it could be classed as a pro tip if you increase your productivity as a result. Essentially, you will use it like Spotlight, except it can do many things like:

  • Launch apps.
  • Calculate mathematical equations.
  • Use it as a dictionary.
  • Play music without opening iTunes.
  • Perform internet searches and receive highly targeted responses.
  • Add calendar events by using natural language inputs.

These are only scratching the surface, and the best thing to do is download it and play around. There are so many benefits to it that you will be amazed.


Conclusion

Apple products are sought-after for a reason; they are fantastic to use, look amazing, and they are premium products. However, they are not perfect, and by using some of the hacks mentioned in this post, you will get more from your device than you thought possible.

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